Touch-Sensitive Operating Display For Setting A Program Of A Domestic Appliance, And Corresponding Method

ABSTRACT

A touch-sensitive operating display for setting a program of a household appliance, a household appliance including such an operating display, a computer program product and a corresponding method are provided. The household appliance has a plurality of different programs, each of which can be defined by using a plurality of parameters that are interdependent. The operating display has a plurality of display regions, each of which represents a parameter. The parameters of the display regions can be changed by touching the operating display. However, a change of a parameter of one display region leads to the simultaneous change of the parameter of another display region.

The present invention relates to a touch-sensitive operating display for setting a program of a domestic appliance, the domestic appliance having multiple different programs. The operating display can be arranged on a domestic appliance such as, for example, a dishwasher or a washing machine, or be realized using a generic mobile terminal device. Furthermore, the present invention relates to a method for setting a program of a domestic appliance.

Currently, the operation of all commercially available dishwashers is very similar. The user first switches the dishwasher on and then selects a wash program. The wash programs differ with regard to their duration, their cleaning performance, the energy they consume and the noise that they produce. Programs such as AUTO 35°-45°, AUTO 55°-65°, PRE-WASH, QUICK WASH and ECO 50° are frequently offered. Frequently, additional options can also be selected to perfect or individually adjust the washing result. For example, special drying, disinfection, an energy saving mode and the like can be selected. These options in turn also have an impact on the duration, the energy consumed and other parameters of the wash program. By pressing a control button and/or by closing the dishwasher door, the selected program is then started.

A problem with this setting methodology just described is that the user is usually unaware of the consequences of his choice. Frequently, the program is selected almost at random or due to simple habit.

Based on the prior art, it is the object of the present invention to propose a touch-sensitive operating display for setting a program of a domestic appliance which permits a more intuitive choice of the program. Furthermore, an appropriate method for setting a program of a domestic appliance relating thereto must be declared.

These tasks are achieved by the objects of the independent claims. The dependent claims reproduce embodiments of the invention.

Accordingly, the invention relates to a touch-sensitive operating display for setting a program of a domestic appliance, the domestic appliance having multiple different programs. The domestic appliance concerned may, for example, be a dishwasher or also a washing machine and in the case of the specified programs, they may be cleaning programs. Each of the programs can be defined using multiple parameters that are interdependent.

The interdependencies between the parameters are known and were, for example, already described at the end of the 1950's by the surfactant chemist Dr. Herbert Sinner (cf. for example, the journal Getränkeindustrie 11/2004, pages 98-104: Sinner's Circle: The Basis for Successful Cleaning and Disinfection). Mr. Sinner believed that every cleaning process has four basic parameters, namely chemistry (the cleaning agent), mechanics, temperature and time. Put simply, this means, for example, that a cleaning process can be performed at a faster rate if a stronger cleaning agent is used and/or more mechanical energy is employed. A higher temperature also has a positive effect on the time required. If, on the other hand, a largely cold rinsing liquid is to be used and a gentle cleaning agent is to be employed, rinsing must be stronger and longer.

One idea of the present invention is now to make the interdependencies between the parameters of the programs visible for the user of the domestic appliance.

Accordingly, the operating display according to the invention shows multiple display areas which each represent one parameter. The parameters of the display areas and/or the display areas themselves can be changed by touching the operating display. If a parameter of one display area is now changed, this leads to the simultaneous change of a parameter of another display area. In particular, a parameter of one display area can be enlarged if a parameter of the other display area is reduced. In this case, there is therefore a trade-off between the two parameters.

A parameter can, for example, be an energy parameter which describes an amount of energy which is consumed as a result of the execution of the program. Another parameter can be a time parameter which describes the time required by the program for a run. Preferably, another parameter is a noise level parameter which indicates a noise level which arises as a result of the execution of the program.

If the user of a dishwasher now wishes to reduce the required time, this can be achieved, for example, by injecting the rinsing liquid into the dishwasher with increased pressure whereby, however, a higher noise level is produced. If the water is heated to a greater extent, a reduction in the duration of the rinsing process would be possible without increasing the injection pressure.

With the solution proposed here, when selecting the program the user can therefore intuitively detect how he can optimally weigh up his wishes against each other with regard to the time required, the energy consumed and the sound level generated. He can input requests with regard to the time and recognizes the impact of this on the sound level and the energy consumed. As the sound level and the energy required are certainly also interchangeable, he can select the balance he finds most pleasing between these two parameters by means of a further setting process.

The operating display presented here can, for example, be a touch display and/or also have setting buttons.

In a particularly preferred embodiment of the operating display, in each case two display areas adjoin each other and the operating display is set up in such a manner that a boundary between two display areas can be shifted by touching the operating display, whereby a parameter of one display area is enlarged and a parameter of the other display area is reduced. For example, the display areas can be arranged in a circular or triangular shape. As a result of the display areas being directly adjacent in this way, the exchange ratio of two parameters to one another can be intuitively visualized.

In some embodiments, the operating display has a selection area with the aid of which a condition of an item which is to be treated by means of the program can be defined by the user. The condition of the item can involve, for example, a degree of soiling of the item such that finally a cleaning performance to be rendered is selected in the selection area. Preferably, the operating display is set up such that an average condition of the item is already preselected in the selection area. In this manner, the user need then only make a choice in the selection area if the condition of the item deviates from an average condition, for example, if the crockery is particularly dirty or only champagne glasses are involved.

The operating display may also have an input area with the aid of which a chemical used by the domestic appliance can be defined. The chemical can, for example, be a cleaning agent such as a dishwasher detergent or a laundry detergent for a washing machine. As already explained above with regard to Sinner's Circle, an improved cleaning performance can be achieved by means of a particularly strong cleaning agent with otherwise identical parameters.

A presentation of the multiple display areas and/or the parameters of the multiple display areas may depend on an input entered by way of the selection area and/or the input area. If the display areas are arranged in a circular shape, the circle can, for example, be enlarged when a particularly high cleaning performance is to be provided. Analogously, in a triangular presentation a smaller triangle can be shown when a particularly concentrated and/or powerful cleaning agent is used.

The presentation of the multiple display areas and/or the parameters of the multiple display areas may also depend on a sensor-detected value. Thus, for example, it is conceivable that a dishwasher automatically recognizes the strength of the dishwasher detergent it is using. By examining the turbidity of the rinsing water, the degree of soiling of the items to be washed is equally apparent.

Preferably, each display area has a minimum size which cannot be undershot. In the case of time, for example, it is immediately obvious that the duration of the wash program cannot be reduced to zero.

The operating display can be arranged on a domestic appliance or also be realized by means of a generic mobile terminal device. Accordingly, the invention also comprises a domestic appliance having multiple different programs, in particular, cleaning programs, each of which can be defined using parameters that are interdependent. The domestic appliance can be, for example, a dishwasher or also a washing machine. The domestic appliance according to the invention has an operating display according to the invention for setting the program of the domestic appliance. The operating display can, for example, be permanently attached to the domestic appliance.

Furthermore, the invention comprises a computer program product comprising the program instructions which can be executed on a mobile terminal device with a touch-sensitive operating display which can be connected to a domestic appliance such that an operating display according to the invention is formed. The computer program product can, for example, be a data carrier with software stored thereon or also a data bundle which can be downloaded from the internet. It is particularly preferred if the computer program product is an app which can be executed on a commercially available smartphone with a touch display.

In addition to the touch-sensitive operating display already described, the invention comprises a method for setting a program of a domestic appliance, wherein the domestic appliance, as already described, has multiple different programs, in particular, cleaning programs. As already mentioned, the programs can each be defined by means of multiple parameters that are interdependent.

According to the method, first multiple display areas are shown, each of which represents a parameter. Presentation naturally takes place on the touch-sensitive operating display. Subsequently, a user can set the parameters by touching the operating display, wherein changing a parameter of one display area leads to the simultaneous change of the parameter of another display area. Subsequently, the program which is best defined by the set parameters is selected. By means of the method presented here, the user can intuitively influence the parameters he requests, immediately discern the effects of his choice on other parameters and thus arrive at a program which represents the best solution for the current situation and his requests.

The invention was presented with regard to an operating display, a domestic appliance, a computer program product and a method. Unless specified otherwise, the features of the operating display can naturally be applied analogously to the domestic appliance, the computer program product and the method.

Further details and advantages of embodiments of the invention will be explained hereinafter with reference to the figures, in which:

FIG. 1 shows a first embodiment of a touch-sensitive operating display according to the present invention;

FIGS. 2a-2c show a second embodiment of a touch-sensitive operating display according to the present invention;

FIG. 3 shows a third embodiment of a touch-sensitive operating display according to the invention;

FIG. 4a shows a dishwasher according to the invention;

FIG. 4b shows a washing machine according to the invention;

FIG. 5 shows a fourth embodiment of a touch-sensitive operating display according to the invention and

FIG. 6 shows an embodiment of a method according to the invention.

In the following description, identical and identically acting elements are each designated by the same reference character, unless specified otherwise.

FIG. 1 shows a first embodiment of a touch-sensitive operating display according to the invention. The operating display 1 has three display areas 2 to 4, each of which represents a parameter. The time can be set using the display area 2, the sound level using the display area 3 and the energy required by the program using the display area 4. The parameter is increased in each case by touching the plus setting button which is arranged on the right of the respective display area. A reduction is made by touching the minus setting button on the left next to the display area in each case. Furthermore, the operating display 1 has a selection area 5 with the aid of which the degree of soiling of the crockery of a dishwasher to be treated can be set.

A typical setting process is as follows. First the user touches the setting button to switch on the power supply 6 and indicates the degree of soiling of the crockery in the selection area 5. Based on this information, the touch-sensitive operating display can calculate the cleaning performance to be rendered. The user is then free to influence the parameters shown in the display areas 2 to 4, wherein a change of a parameter in each case also affects the other parameters. For example, if the user increases the time in the display area 2, the dishwasher can either inject the rinsing water into the dishwasher with less pressure or reduce the temperature of the rinsing water without the washing result being consequently impaired because additional time was made available. Conversely, if the user reduces the time in the display area 2, either a higher sound level must be accepted or the water must be heated further. In this way, the user can consider what is most important to him in the current situation, and set the display areas 2 to 4 accordingly. After the setting has been performed, he presses the setting button to start the domestic appliance 7 and closes the dishwasher door, whereby the cleaning program is started.

FIGS. 2a to 2c show a second embodiment of a touch-sensitive operating display according to the invention which is embodied as a touch display. In the operating display 8, the display areas 2 to 4 are arranged in a circular shape such that in each case two display areas adjoin one another. A respective boundary 9 is arranged between the display areas which can be shifted by means of touch. By means of shifting, naturally not only the size of the display area is changed but also the value of the parameter behind it. As the display areas are arranged in a circle, it is immediately obvious that by enlarging one display area the adjacent display area is reduced. In this way, the connections between the parameters can be shown particularly intuitively for the user.

In the center of the circle the remaining time of the program is shown by means of a remaining time display 10. As in the first embodiment, the second embodiment also has a selection area 5 in which the soiling of the item to be washed can be selected. An average condition is selected here (“average”) without touch. Only if the user has the impression that the soiling is particularly light or particularly heavy, must he make a choice here. Furthermore, the second embodiment of the operating display 8 also has two setting buttons for switching on the domestic appliance and for starting the program. Further setting buttons are naturally conceivable and in part also plotted in FIG. 2a , but are not to be explained separately here.

FIG. 2b illustrates how a user touches the boundary 9 between the display area 2 for the time and the display area 3 for the sound level with his finger 11. By moving the finger 11 to the right, he shifts the boundary 9 such that the display area 2 for the time is smaller and the display area 3 for the sound level larger. The end of the movement of the finger can be seen in FIG. 2 c.

FIG. 3 shows a third embodiment of a touch-sensitive operating display according to the invention. The operating display 12 clarifies that the display areas 2, 3, 4 do not necessarily have to be arranged in a circular shape. Rather, a triangular shape is also conceivable, for example. In turn, the display areas 2 to 4 are adjacent to one another, albeit in a different shape. Naturally, squares or free forms would also be conceivable. On the left next to the triangle, the operating display 12 has an input area 13 with the aid of which a cleaning agent used by the domestic appliance can be defined. An average-strength cleaning agent is preselected in the input area 13. By touching the box on the left or right next to the central field, it is possible to enter that the cleaning agent is plain and/or weak or concentrated and/or highly effective.

The operating displays can both be arranged directly on the domestic appliance and be realized using software on a generic mobile terminal device which, for example, is wirelessly connected to the domestic appliances. FIG. 4a shows an embodiment of a dishwasher 14 according to the invention. On the top edge of its door, the dishwasher 14 has the first embodiment of an operating display 1 according to the invention shown in FIG. 1. However, FIG. 4b shows an embodiment of a washing machine 15 according to the invention to which the second embodiment of an operating display 8 according to the invention is attached.

FIG. 5 illustrates a commercially available mobile terminal device 16 with a touch display 17 on which the user interface of a domestic appliance is displayed such that a fourth embodiment of an operating display 18 according to the invention is formed. The mobile terminal device 16 can, for example, be connected to the domestic appliance via WLAN.

FIG. 6 illustrates an embodiment of a method according to the invention for setting a program of a domestic appliance. The method M relates, by way of example, to a dishwasher and the second embodiment of a touch-sensitive operating display according to the invention shown in FIG. 2a . After activation, the multiple display areas are first shown in Step S1. As the crockery to be cleaned is very heavily soiled, in Step S2 the user touches the selection area 5 where the box under the word “heavily” can be seen in FIG. 2a . Based on this input, in Step S3 the system recognizes that a substantial cleaning performance is required and enlarges the display areas 2 to 4, which are arranged in a circle, to thus signal to the user that washing must either take place for a longer duration, with hotter water or at higher pressure in the case of such heavy soiling. In Step S4 the user sets the parameters accordingly by touching the boundaries between the display areas with his finger. He first reduces the time required. The radian measure thus released is equally allocated to the sound level and the energy. In Step S5 the user then reduces the energy, whereby he accepts that washing must take place at higher pressure, whereby the sound level increases. In S6 he then presses the start setting button, whereupon in Step S7 the program best suited to the entered settings is selected.

A major advantage of the invention described here may consist of the user himself being able to determine to the minute how long his program should last, wherein he sees simultaneously the impact of his setting on the two other parameters sound level and energy. The user therefore learns intuitively how the parameters sound level, time and energy correlate. The program can therefore be chosen flexibly and yet with particularly ease.

The explanations provided with regard to the figures are purely illustrative and not to be construed as limiting. Many changes can be made to the embodiments shown without departing from the scope of the invention, as specified in the attached claims. In particular, the features of the individual embodiments can be freely combined with one another.

LIST OF REFERENCE CHARACTERS

-   1. First embodiment of an operating display according to the     invention -   2. Display area which represents the time parameter -   3. Display area which represents the noise level parameter -   4. Display area which represents the energy parameter -   5. Selection area -   6. Setting button for switching on the energy supply -   7. Setting button for starting the domestic appliance -   8. Second embodiment of an operating display according to the     invention -   9. Boundary -   10. Remaining time display -   11. Finger -   12. Third embodiment of an operating display according to the     invention -   13. Input area -   14. Dishwasher -   15. Washing machine -   16. Mobile terminal device -   17. Touch display -   18. Fourth embodiment of an operating display according to the     invention -   M Embodiment of a method according to the invention -   S1 Presentation of multiple display areas -   S2 Selection of the degree of soiling of the item to be washed -   S3 Adjustment of the presentation of the display areas -   S4 Setting the time parameter -   S5 Setting the energy parameter -   S6 Pressing the start setting button -   S7 Selection of the program which is best defined by the set     parameters 

1-17. (canceled)
 18. A touch-sensitive operating display for setting a program of a domestic appliance having a plurality of different programs to be defined by using a plurality of interdependent parameters, the operating display comprising: a plurality of display areas each representing a parameter; said parameters of said display areas being changeable by touching the operating display; and changing a parameter of one display area changes a parameter of another display area.
 19. The operating display according to claim 18, wherein the programs are cleaning programs.
 20. The operating display according to claim 18, which further comprises at least one of a touch display or setting buttons.
 21. The operating display according to claim 18, wherein said plurality of display areas include two mutually adjacent display areas defining a boundary therebetween to be shifted by touching the operating display causing a parameter of one display area to be enlarged and a parameter of another display area to be reduced.
 22. The operating display according to claim 21, wherein said plurality of display areas are disposed in a circular or triangular configuration.
 23. The operating display according to claim 18, wherein one of said parameters is an energy parameter defining an amount of energy being consumed by execution of the program.
 24. The operating display according to claim 18, wherein one of said parameters is a time parameter defining a time required by the program for a run.
 25. The operating display according to claim 18, wherein one of said parameters is a noise level parameter defining a noise level arising as a result of an execution of the program.
 26. The operating display according to claim 18, which further comprises a selection area allowing a user to define a condition of an item to be treated by using the program.
 27. The operating display according to claim 26, wherein an average condition of the item is preselected in said selection area.
 28. The operating display according to claim 26, wherein the condition of the item is a degree of soiling of the item to be cleaned by using the program.
 29. The operating display according to claim 18, which further comprises an input area for defining a chemical used by the domestic appliance.
 30. The operating display according to claim 29, wherein the chemical is a cleaning agent.
 31. The operating display according to claim 26, which further comprises an input area for defining a chemical used by the domestic appliance, wherein a presentation of at least one of said plurality of display areas or the parameters of said plurality of display areas depends on an input entered by way of at least one of said selection area or said input area.
 32. The operating display according to claim 18, wherein a presentation of at least one of said plurality of display areas or the parameters of said plurality of display areas depend on a sensor-detected value.
 33. The operating display according to claim 18, wherein each of said display areas has a minimum size which may not be undershot.
 34. A domestic appliance, comprising: a plurality of different programs to be defined by using a plurality of interdependent parameters; and an operating display according to claim 18 for setting the programs.
 35. The domestic appliance according to claim 34, wherein the domestic appliance is a dishwasher or a washing machine and the programs are cleaning programs.
 36. A non-transitory computer readable medium or data carrier with software or a downloadable data bundle or an app with program instructions to be executed on a mobile terminal device with a touch-sensitive operating display to be connected to a domestic appliance to form an operating display according to claim
 18. 37. A method for setting a program of a domestic appliance having a plurality of different programs to be defined by using a plurality of interdependent parameters, the method comprising the following steps: using a touch-sensitive operating display to present a plurality of display areas each representing a parameter; setting the parameters as a result of a user of the domestic appliance touching the operating display causing a change of a parameter of one display area to change the parameter of another display area; and selecting the program best defined by the set parameters.
 38. The method according to claim 37, wherein the programs are cleaning programs. 